Zeus
Zeus (/zjuːs/; Ancient Greek: Ζεύς, Zeús zdeǔ̯s) is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who rules as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter. His mythologies and powers are similar, though not identical, to those of Indo-European deities such as Jupiter, Perkūnas, Perun, Indra and Thor.Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus.At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, by whom the Iliad states that he fathered Aphrodite. Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses. History Birth Zeus was the youngest child of Kronos, the Titan King of Mount Othrys, and his sister-wife Rhea. All of Zeus' elder siblings had been earlier devoured by Kronos, who was terrified of one of his children (who were gods, a more powerful race of immortals than the Titans) ultimately overpowering him as predicted by his father Ouranos before Kronos cut him into pieces. Hence, determined to retain his place as king, Kronos consecutively swallowed Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon as soon as they were born. As a result, Kronos became known as "King Cannibal." Rhea pleaded with Kronos to spare their children, but with no success, since even Kronos' great love for Rhea was not enough to overpower his selfish and evil nature. A distraught Rhea soon heard the voice of Gaea, advising her to give birth to her final child (who would save his other siblings) on the island of Crete. Claiming that Koios, her clairvoyant brother had advised her to do so, Rhea successfully departed for Crete without any question from Kronos. Rescuing his Siblings On Crete, in a cave at the base of Mount Ida, Rhea gave birth to her sixth and final child. His name would be Zeus. Rhea gave her newborn son to the nine nymphs that attended his birth (including Hagno), and returned to Mount Orthys. She used a huge smooth boulder the same size and shape as a newborn (given to her by Gaea) to deceive Kronos, by wrapping it up in swaddling clothes, and pretending that it was her final child. Kronos swallowed it without even looking (which gave him an intense stomachache), and was successfully deceived. Throughout his childhood, Zeus was raised by Rhea (who visited him often), the nine nymphs, the loud Kouretes, and the goat Amaltheia. Rhea would often tell Zeus about his brothers and sisters, all of whom he was destined to rescue from his father's stomach. When Zeus grew to adulthood, he successfully transformed into a Titanic version of himself, and (with help from his mother) infiltrated Mount Othrys by convincing Kronos to hire him as his royal cup bearer. With the help of his great singing and dancing skills (as well as his knowledge of many outrageously hilarious "satyr jokes"), Zeus was able to constantly entertain all of the Titans at Mount Othrys, even Kronos himself. Shortly thereafter, Zeus encouraged all of the male Titans to participate in drinking contests. As the Titan King of Mount Othrys, Kronos would always win, since he could not let his siblings or nephews overcome him in anything. Finally, the Titan King began trusting Zeus completely, which is exactly what the latter was waiting for.One evening, when Kronos was dining together with his Titanic brothers and nephews, Zeus prepared a special set of drinks for them all. The god prepared nectar mixed with sleeping potion for Kronos' guests to knock them out, while he prepared an extremely powerful emetic (made from nectar mixed with mustard) for Kronos himself which would make him vomit everything that he had once eaten out. As before, Zeus entertained them all with his excellent singing, wild Kouretes' dance moves, and outrageously hilarious satyr jokes. Near the end of the Titanic banquet, Zeus encouraged all of the Titans to have yet another drinking contest, and handed out the prepared goblets. As before, Kronos won the contest, but Zeus' emetic was so powerful, that it forced him to instantly disgorge all of the contents of his stomach, in reverse order of swallowing: first the boulder, then Poseidon, followed by Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. All of them had been growing undigested in Kronos' stomach, being immortal gods. The other titans were also knocked out and unable to retaliate. Zeus quickly introduced himself to his elder siblings, and they all promptly escaped Mount Othrys, before their Titanic uncles and cousins came to their senses. In Zeus' cave, at the base of Mount Ida, all six of them happily reunited with their mother, Rhea, who tearfully embraced all of her rescued children. Shortly thereafter, the gods accepted Zeus as their leader, and reached a unanimous consensus on declaring war against their father. However, since the Titans were well-armed, and the gods still had no weapons, Zeus decided to release his Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheire uncles from Tartarus first so that they could craft weapons for them. Rescuing the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires Zeus' eldest brother, Hades, was very skilled in navigating under the earth, and was able to lead them all into Tartarus (through a network of Underworldtunnels). There, imprisoned in the maximum-security zone, surrounded by huge bronze walls, and a lava moat, guarded fierce demons, were the Elder Cyclopesand Hekatonkheires. Their guardian, Kampê, was the most ferocious and fearsome monster in all of Tartarus, and even Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades initially shuddered with horror when they saw the infernal monster for the first time. However, the gods overcame their fear, and were able to sneak in. Zeus managed to talk to the Cyclopes Brontes, and convinced him to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings behind Kampê's back. The three Elder Cyclopes forged three incredibly powerful weapons: the Master Bolt (for Zeus), the Trident (for Poseidon), and the Helm of Darkness (for Hades). With these weapons, Zeus killed Kampê, and Poseidon shattered the chains of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, releasing them. Afterwards, Hades safely guided his siblings and uncles back out of Tartarus. In return, for their release, all six of Zeus' uncles agreed to fight on his side in the upcoming war with the Titans. First Titan War Shortly after their return from Tartarus, Zeus and his siblings officially declared war on Kronos and the other Titans, which resulted in the terrifying 11-year-long Titan War. The Titans initially had the upper hand, because they were much more experienced warriors. However, as the years of the war passed, the gods quickly became skilled warriors as well, and with the help of their new extremely powerful weapons (such as Zeus' Master Bolt, Poseidon's trident and Hades' Helm of Darkness, as well as the aid of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires (whose immense strength became extremely useful as the war progressed), the gods finally prevailed.While preparing for the final battle of the war, Zeus and his siblings ascended to Mount Olympus (the tallest mountain in Greece after Mount Orthys). During the final battle, Zeus used his Master Bolt to shear off the top of Mount Othrys, and hurl Kronos from his Black Throne, defeating the Titan King. Shortly thereafter, the gods invaded the ruins of Mount Orthys, and finally overwhelmed the remaining Titans Atlas, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios, and Koios.In the aftermath of the battle, the Elder Cyclopes chained up all of the defeated Titans, while the Hekatonkheires forced them to kneel before Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Zeus took his father's scythe and sliced Kronos into a thousand pieces, before casting him into Tartarus, along with the rest of his followers (except for Atlas, who was forced to hold the sky). Afterwards, Zeus offered the Hekatonkheires to return to Tartarus, this time as the jailers of the Titans, to which they readily agreed.Category:Olympians